


Izuku Midoriya Raising Project

by MaestroMoth



Category: Sam & Max (Comics), Street Fighter, Tekken (Video Games), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Eventual Character Action Insanity, F/F, F/M, Gamer Midoriya Izuku, Good Parent Midoriya Inko, Hurt/Comfort, Izuku is small and ferocious and adorable, M/M, Martial Arts, Mental Health Issues, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Needs A Hug, Multi, Parental Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Sam and Max adopt Izuku as their secretary and nephew, munchkinry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:47:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22445089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaestroMoth/pseuds/MaestroMoth
Summary: Izuku Midoriya winds up in the hospital three months before meeting All Might with what seems to be a useless quirk for an aspiring hero. plenty of ugly scars, and even more trauma.Then trying to save his childhood friend from certain death triggers a calvacade of new "features" in his quirk and attracts the attentions of the number one hero and a young martial artist, giving a broken boy a chance at becoming the hero he's always dreamed of being.Of course, everything quickly spirals out of control and seemingly everybody of any kind of importance has some sort of interest in the burgeoning hero.
Relationships: Midoriya Izuku/Everyone, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 38
Kudos: 106





	1. Sludge Metal

**Author's Note:**

> Not the most experienced at this whole fanfiction thing, but I swear I'm trying
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS5osAdTnm0

**NEW BGM UNLOCKED!**

**SHOCK ME – BARONESS – PURPLE**

**Now Playing – SHOCK ME - BARONESS**

**Your STRESS is reaching critical levels. Please take action to reduce your level of STRESS to avoid the ill effects of critical STRESS**

When his quirk had given him a new stress alert he hadn’t seen before and started playing a synth line he’d never heard before Izuku Midoriya knew that he had already decided his course of action. His quirk so far only played new music when he made big decisions, which he hadn’t made many of in the month he’d had his quirk admittedly, but this qualified as a big decision. He stood at the edge of a crowd looking at pro heroes failing to contain a towering inferno and free a rampaging villain’s hostage. Said hostage was someone he knew, his childhood friend Katsuki Bakugo; someone he could say he sort of cared about even. So, he started charging forward and pushing bodies aside amidst the song in his head erupting into a churning guitar riff and tom driven drumbeat.

Of course, the decision to close his alerts, wrestle past a large group of people and several career superheroes, then charge at a giant slime person was probably not the smartest he had made in his short life. Adding in the fact that he had just been emotionally destroyed by an awful encounter with his personal hero and that he had no real plan or ability to inflict any kind of substantial damage to a giant slime man writhing about in a flaming alley as he suffocated someone, Izuku would probably say this was his dumbest decision ever, but still one of his best.

He just barely managed to dodge the grasp of one of the pro heroes who was screaming at him, his voice drowned out by the sound of an ascending guitar riff and belted echoing baritone vocals in the song blaring in Izuku’s mind. He could feel his lungs burning from the thick smoke and the fact that he was pushing his legs harder than he ever had before. The slime villain caught eyes with him and let out a snarl, whipping out an amorphous appendage with full force to swat Izuku down. The boy darted forward and to the left, just barely avoiding the attack and almost tripping with the sudden shift in inertia. He threw his hands up to steady himself before breaking out in a run again and tearing his backpack off his shoulders. A few meters away from the villain he used the force of his speed to twist himself and throw his bag as hard as he could at the sneering gooey mess of a face in front of him. What he’d failed to notice was the series of alerts that had been popping up in the peripheral of his vision.

**Your first potentially fatal combat encounter has unlocked a new feature: TIMED DODGING**

**CRITICAL DODGE! Your next action has an increased chance of triggering a secondary effect!**

**CRITICAL HIT! SLIMY ASSHOLE IS NOW DAZED!**

**Your courage and quick thinking have unlocked a new feature: DYNAMIC MUSIC**

**IMMINENT BADASSERY DETECTED! CHANGING BGM TO ANTHEM MODE! BRING THE FUCKING NOISE!**

The slime man reeled back in pain as Izuku’s bag smacked into his eyes with a meaty splattering sound, drawing out a scream from his crooked mouth as he reeled back. Immediately after everyone in the vicinity of the towering flames were hit with a wall of disembodied guitars and drums beginning to climb in volume and pitch, seemingly emanating from the teenager who had charged into the fray. Izuku took the chance to start scratching and clawing at the slime covering Bakugo, crying out in effort. A moment later the slime villain regained his senses and snapped up Izuku into a newly formed tentacle. He tried to keep at least some semblance of cool as he was slowly brought eye to eye with both the impossibly wide mouth of his captor and the panicked expression of Katsuki, meaning he was shaking and tearing up instead of just flat out bawling.

Izuku tried his best to bite back a scream as the sludge around him started to constrict as the horrific mess of teeth in front of him grew wider. Just when he started to audibly hear his bones strain a reedy voice slid out of the gaping maw, “A human jukebox huh? Well let’s see what that sounds like when you’re flash fried!” The monster let out a cackle and a shower of sparks and light flooded Izuku’s vision, Katsuki’s explosion quirk forcibly activated.

The villain’s timing couldn’t have been worse, as you never attack the protagonist of a video game during a cutscene when the BGM hits the bridge. As the flash started to fade and was followed by a massive rumbling explosion, a rapid drum fill and a tense mess of chords sounding out from Izuku also exploded into a fucking righteous guitar solo. Izuku was suddenly torn from his slimy prison and into the grip of a towering figure that stood resolute as the conflagration seemed to bounce off him.

Izuku looked up at his rescuer with a look of shock and further tears, “All Might!?”

All Might let out a jovial laugh, blood leaking from his wide smile, and spoke in almost perfect harmony with the tasty licks wafting through the air, “Have no Fear! For I am here!”

The towering figure of muscle and raw silver age heroism suddenly flew into a roaring haymaker, tearing Katsuki away from the overwhelming wave of tornado force winds sending the villain into the sky and snuffing out the surrounding inferno. Time seemed to stop for a moment as the sun shined down on All Might holding his fist out as he turned to look at Izuku who’s expression was a mix of awe and anxiety. Then a short fanfare suddenly played as an empty bar popped up in front of Izuku before slowly filling with color red, beginning to flash when full. All Might watched on with his usually smiling visage marred by a raised eyebrow as a quiet ding emanated from seemingly nowhere. Sparkles then emanated from the boy’s head before a block of pixelated English text popped up, accompanied by a booming reading it out, just barely audible over the continued guitar shredding blasting from the green haired teenager.

**LEVEL UP!!!**

**Strength +02 Guts +06**

**Heart +03 Smarts MAX**

**Will +09 Witchery +07**

**Vision +10** **Knack +05**

As the voice finished and the text collapsed in on itself in a another flash of retro video game sparkles, dark clouds suddenly formed above and brought down a heavy shower, hiding Izuku’s anxious tears and allowing the last seconds of the song that his quirk had been playing to fade into the sounds of rain hitting concrete and the quickly approaching crowd of agitated heroes and civilians.

Izuku sat in the back doorway of an ambulance, nodding as he was again berated by a police officer, again told that charging into the fray with such a useless quirk was suicide, that he should have just left the heroics to the pro heroes that had obviously been doing their jobs, and if All Might hadn’t been there he would have just wound up dead and caused even more trouble. He was used to this, so incredibly used to this. The infantilization and condescension from authority figures was standard for any teenager and his previous quirkless status had meant he got that treatment from his own peers. He kept his mouth shut, deciding to just go with the flow and agree with everything being said to him.

As the officer walked away from him to call the boy’s mother, he let out a pained breath as he gingerly rubbed his side. The sudden trauma of being squeezed by an icky tentacle had more than likely bruised his ribs but the paramedics had dismissed his complaints, telling him that if he was going to act like an idiot then he should suffer the consequences. Izuku was pretty sure that broke at least a couple of laws, but he was too tired and too weirded out by his quirk to even weakly protest.

Why had his quirk chosen this moment to activate in new ways? The initial trigger for the quirk had been him almost dying but he’d received nothing from that except a few songs and a prompt congratulating him on activating his quirk. Was it the fact that the villain intended to kill him whereas before the danger didn’t have an outside source? And both of his recent unlocks implied possibilities beyond the prompts he triggered. Was there something beyond a critical dodge? Below? Could he only dodge attacks? Were there other status effects he could inflict? His quirk was still so new and had seemed to be so limited that he hadn’t even begun to consider its possible internal logic. Other than a way to hear music he’d never even heard before it had only given him occasional pop-ups about how people felt about him. And was there something other than Anthem Mode? What was the specific trigger for it? Was there a way to play background music around himself outside of combat? What constitutes badassery? Where could he hear more epic guitar solos like that? How could he learn to play an epic guitar solo like that?

A feminine voice broke him out of the mumbling trance he’d fallen into, “Do you know that you’re thinking out loud? And that it’s simultaneously charming and really creepy?”

Izuku was startled from his runaway train of thought and flinched backwards, making eye contact with a young woman a few years older than him who was eyeing him warily while leaning forward a bit. She was tall and decidedly not Japanese in appearance, her skin a light brown and hair dark, long, and wavy, save for the left half that was tightly braided in rows along her scalp. Then he noticed just how… endowed she was in certain respects, her black sports bra doing little to hide anything. Over that she wore a baggy green jacket with yellow stripes and matching shorts of a similar lax fit, rounded out with a pair of worn bright yellow trainers. She was curved and toned in ways he hadn’t seen up close before, the sight making him shiver almost. She was probably the prettiest person Izuku had ever seen in person, including the pro heroes he had seen in action, and she was talking to him of her own volition!

The girl leaned back, her features turning up into a bright bemused smile as she spoke again, “You trying to catch flies there?” Izuku’s jaw snapped shut and he seemed to collapse into himself, a mess of mumbled and frantic apologies coming from his blood red face.

She broke into a full-on grin and let out a bright bark of laughter (which Izuku would compare to the sounds of scantily clad angels singing for a collection of reasons in the future), “You’re good man, relax! Just teasing!” She stood up straight and held out her hand, “I’m Laura, Laura Matsuda. I was in the middle of a run when I caught your show back there.”

The boy shook her hand as quickly as he could without seeming rude, trying to pull himself out of the throes of horrific embarrassment, managing to speak clearly, “Izuku Midoriya. I wouldn’t exactly call that a show, more a series of horrible mistakes that somehow didn’t kill me.” He looked down with a frown, his left arm grabbing the opposite shoulder as his right carefully ran along his bruised ribs, “If All Might hadn’t shown up, I would probably be a smoking corpse right now.”

Laura took the chance to look Izuku over again, her smile shrinking into a smirk as the gears in her head started turning. Dressed in a plain baggy school uniform, he was rail thin and had an anxious energy to the way he moved. His hair was a mess of wavy green going out in every direction, stopping just above large eyes of a matching color. The dark bags under them bled into a smattering of freckles on both cheeks, which combined with the roundness of his features made him seem like a tired and nervous teddy bear. She found him immediately adorable, especially with the way he got so easily flustered.

The only thing that detracted from the soft comfort of his appearance was the thick, angry, red scar that ran down from the corner of his left eye to wrap around his jaw, stopping just shy of his chin. A smaller mark was across his forehead, mostly hidden under his hair, while the tip of an even more vicious looking one was just visible above the high collar of his shirt. Whatever had caused them had happened recently and was definitely not a fun experience.

“…I-I k-know that they’re not exactly the most pleasant looking, but do you have to stare so intensely?” Laura flushed, realizing that she had been doing the same thing he had to her, for different reasons.

“Sorry, that was rude of me too.” She flashed a wide smile, trying to cheer him up. “Guess we’re even now huh?”

Izuku flushed again and nodded, before speaking again in a low mumble that she could tell was probably his default tone, “Did you just come over to just say hello? Or was there something else?”

“I was impressed by your instincts and wanted to invite you to the dojo I teach at!” She had lit up now, seemingly excited by the mere thought.

Izuku tilted his head that reminded Laura of a puppy in a way she felt shouldn’t be legal, “Dojo? You mean like martial arts?”

“Exactly! My family has a jiu-jitsu style we created that I’m trying to pass onto as many people as possible!” She’d struck a pose like a fighting stance as she spoke, arms stretched out in front of her and legs apart, before bouncing back to a relaxed stance.

Izuku broke into a wide grin with his eyes sparkling, Laura’s enthusiasm infecting him, “So, it’s your family’s dojo? And you’re good enough to teach? That’s super cool and really impressive! You must be incredible to be so skilled and so young!”

Laura blushed and rubbed the back of her head, a little taken aback at how animated the previously timid boy had become. “Well it’s not my family’s dojo, but I do teach there along with a bunch of other awesome people! You should totally come by! I could tell from that dodge of yours you’ve got great instincts!”

Izuku’s smile shrunk, his hands going back to his ribs and shoulder, “I’m not exactly the athletic type… you probably wanna look elsewhere for students.”

Laura took on a deadpan expression, her tone decidedly not having it, “That just makes me want to drag you into this more.” She held her hand out in front of him, “Phone.”

“Huh?”

“Your phone, give it to me.” Her expression reminded him of the few times he’d aggravated his mother, preventing him from arguing as he dug his phone out of his pocket and put it into her waiting hand.

She took her own out of her pocket and tapped away, handing his back a moment later, the screen lit up with her name added as a contact in his chat app and a message with an address.

“I gotta get going, but you should come by sometime. We’re open all day on the weekends! See you later Izuku!” Before he could respond she took off down the road, leaving Izuku blushing and staring.

A few moments later he’d been sent on his way home by the police officer, informed his mother was waiting for him at home. He’d run off as fast as possible to avoid anymore reprimanding, his self-esteem not able to handle anymore passive aggressive comments from authority figures.

As he walked down the street, a key realization about his conversation with Laura hit him with the force of a truck and caused him to stop and snap out of his normal slouch. A wide smile broke out on his face as he shouted at the top of his lungs, “I talked to a girl!”

**ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED – MEET CUTE**

**YOU TALKED TO A GIRL! FUCK YEAH!**

**Heart +01** **Witchery +02**

Izuku blushed at the pop-up that appeared in a blast of digital glitter, simultaneously affirmed in his excitement and embarrassed at being rewarded for basic social interactions. He dismissed the pop-up and started walking again, falling into a storm of thoughts and ideas that leaked out into a barely audible jumble.

He really needed to start laying out the details of his quirk and start experimenting, as there were so many more possibilities to what he had access to. Did every little thing have the possibility to unlock achievements? Would they all give stat boosts? What did the stats mean? How in the world did they work or even physically affect him? Smarts and Strength were self-explanatory but what did knack entail? Dexterity? What in the world did heart quantify? His literal cardiovascular health or something relating to his emotional state? What did vision or witchery represent? Witchery could be a synonym for allure or glamour, but that was usually in a mystical sense, right? This was a quirk, one that warped reality apparently which was more than sort of terrifying, but did it have some sort of magic bent?

Izuku continued his half-manic mumbling, pulling out one of his notebooks and scribbling away, trying to get every thought spilling out down as quickly as possible and into some form of coherency for later rumination.

“ **I AM HERE** !”

All Might stood in front of the oblivious teenage boy in front of him, locked in a heroic pose and waiting for some form of acknowledgement. When the boy walked past him completely ignorant to his presence his quirk gave out and deflated him into his default state.

He put a hand on the boy’s shoulder causing him to jump and let out a squeak of terror, “Kid! Quit nerding out and pay attention!”

Izuku pulled himself into some semblance of normalcy and gave a shocked look to the emaciated man in front of him, “All Might? What are you doing here?”

“I came to apologize and ask you a question,” He suddenly bulked back up into his iconic form, “ **HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A HERO IZUKU MIDORIYA?!** ”

  
  



	2. Black Metal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long. Stuff got crazy and I got fired for being a depressed weirdo during a pandemic. All good now. Have the time and will to write again. 
> 
> This one is super heavy by design, heavy enough I should warn that if even hinting at attempted suicide bothers you, be wary. Izuku's situation is a more realistic result of his circumstances, but it's temporary and he'll come out stronger on the other side. His mom too. It all happened for a reason.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgQRRI9goFg

**NEW FEATURE UNLOCKED!**

**YOU CAN NOW ACCEPT CONTRACTS!**

**NEW CONTRACT - EMBRACE YOUR HEROIC DESTINY**

**CLIENT : TOSHINORI YAGI**

**FOLLOW A TRAINING SCHEDULE FROM HELL AND FORGE YOURSELF INTO A PROPER VESSEL FOR ALL MIGHT’S HEROIC LEGACY**

**TIME LIMIT : 10 MONTHS**

**REWARD(S) : S̸͚̉̾Y̶̟͓̹̎͝Ṣ̴̲̑T̴̠͉͐̉E̵͙̓M̴̮̒͊ ̷̖̈́U̸͍̔P̶͚̤͑͝G̶͉̖̘͑̑͗R̷̲͛͑̕A̷̗̙̪̐͌͌D̸͍̋͆͘Ḙ̴̠͕̄̈, ONE FOR ALL Lvl:1, Lvl 2 Accessory, Toshinori Yagi D-Link**

**FAILURE : I dunno… probably years of inconsequential mediocrity followed by dying in a ditch from cholera in your 50’s**

**Would you like to accept this contract?**

Izuku and the deflated Allmight, who’s name was apparently Toshinori Yagi, looked closely at the new pop-up that had appeared after the hero had explained his quirk’s true nature and proposed Izuku inheriting it. The only option on the window was a bright red yes button below the block of pixelated text. Izuku’s immediate assumption was he had no choice but to accept the contract, his mind reeling with the possible meaning of each line. The implications of the system upgrade reward that was in a different font sounded decidedly ominous.

Toshinori let out an irritated shout before shaking the boy by the shoulder, “QUIT NERDING OUT!”

Izuku froze in embarrassment, realizing he’d been mumbling up a storm yet again. “Sorry, bad habit.” 

Giving a nod, Toshinori’s hand wrapped around his chin, eyes bouncing from the twitching boy to the pixelated text, “Has your quirk done this before young Midoriya?”

Izuku’s face was set in a deep frown, eye twitching, as he spoke in a wobbling voice, “The only thing I thought it could do was play music in my head and constantly remind me I’m perpetually stressed with obnoxious pop-ups.” The boy let out a deep sigh, “I’ve only had it for about a month and I had no idea it tracked things like stats or blasted the music for other people to hear, let alone quantify promises or decisions like this.”

Toshinori crossed his arm and leered even harder at the screen. “So that’s why you asked me if someone could be a hero with a minor quirk? You didn’t know you could be a potential reality warper?”

Izuku let out a whimper of agreement, “To be honest I thought my accident had somehow triggered schizophrenia.”

The skeleton of a man raised an eyebrow. He wanted to ask about the mention of an accident, but decided to save that for when the timid boy trusted him more. “You thought you were mentally ill?”

Izuku’s responding chuckle was decidedly ghoulish, as was his tone, “Hearing disembodied music is a common minor psychosis. Along with the stress alerts that no one seemed to notice, I was pretty sure my mind had finally cracked from all the stress and misery. Being supposedly quirkless for about 10 years wasn’t fun.”

“I know that struggle pretty well myself, though when I was growing up quirkless things weren’t quite as bad as they are now.”

Izuku’s eyes widened, but kept his mouth shut. There was time for learning about his idol later.

Toshinori, crossed his arms with a sigh, giving Izuku a sympathetic look. “Well I don’t want to pressure you or anything, but are you going to accept? I know the consequences are… obviously steep, but…”

Izuku’s face calmed to a normal expression, his twitching eye finally calming down, “I don’t have a choice do I?”

Izuku pressed the yes, causing a chime to sound as the pop-up collapsed into a mess of sparkling pixels. He turned to face his new mentor with a timid smile on his face, Toshinori noticing the first glint of genuine happiness and excitement in his eyes since he’d met the boy earlier in the day.

Just as Izuku was about to ask what their next step was, a cacophony of glitched noise and angry game show noises sounded out from around him. The noise grew in intensity before a swirling black mass materialized in front of the two. A howling wind emanated from the dark vortex, blowing the two observer’s hair back and forcing Izuku to shield his face, before the random mess of sounds gave way to a Banshee’s shriek accompanied by thundering drums and hammering guitars.

**N̸͖̍ô̷̹w̸̘͝ ̶̛̖P̸̡̐l̴̯̐a̸̲y̶̗ḯ̸̞n̸͍̐g̴̝̀ ̸̠̾-̸̳̅ ̵̱̚E̶͇̊m̸̤͝p̷̜͛e̸̩͗ŕ̶̻o̷̪̓r̶̢̆:̶͉͐ ̵͔̕Ȋ̷͍ ̸̹̿Ȧ̴̯m̷͇̚ ̵̣̎T̶͈́ḧ̵̼́e̴̺̊ ̵̝͛D̷͕͌a̴͕͐r̷̲͝k̴̭͐ ̶̖̅W̵͖i̵̝͒z̵̹͛å̷̹r̶̼̆d̷̬̀**

The distorted music player notification disappeared before Izuku could register what had happened, terrified and entranced by the wall of sound bombarding him, before the largest pop-up he’d seen yet exploded out from the dark void, dwarfing even Allmight’s bulked up form. 

  
  
  


**D̵͔̩̱̅̿̿͊Ẏ̷̢̧̮̤͎̩̳̫̳͚͒̀̈́̆͘Ņ̵̝̥̖̺̰̤̃͆̈́̾̒̒̒̽̽̚Ȃ̴̹́͑́̅̎M̸̛̥͕͙̱̥̲̈̃̋̇͑͝ͅĮ̸̣̹͚̻̼̳̾̐C̴͇̯̭͛̐ ̷̨̛̰̪̼̮͔͌̊̄̋͋̈́̕͠ͅD̸̢̰̝̗̪̗̼͊̈́͌̕͝Ỉ̵͍͙͖̥̯̱͍̼͚F̸̡̬̫̞͉͛͆F̴̛̥̳̳̯̞̒̋̃̑̾̽̓͘͠I̶̗̮̹̦̝̞̜̱̐̿͛͝C̵̱͓͇̃͑͗̓͊U̶̡̿̄̽̍̅̃͋̔͝L̷̨̪͈͖̿̂Ţ̴͖̫̥͈͗̾̐͊͒́̃͝Y̸̖͙͙͚͎͙͉̱̒͐͝ ̵̟͖͓̓̑̎A̶̢̳͍͕̯̓͂̓̑͒͆̒͝͠ͅC̴͉͈̹̮͖̰̯̹̄̑͜T̴̫̗̞̋̆̃̓́Ȋ̴̬̟͍̱̮̮̠̳̼̓͝V̷̻̟̹̠̖̹̓̒͊̎̔̆̌͝ͅA̵̧̤͍̻̭̾͌̆̿ͅT̴̛͈̅͝È̵͉̹̮̠̗̥͍̜̝̔̅̈͠D̵̛̠̻̤͈̬̰͎̼̈̅̑̆́̽**

  
  


**C̵͎͈̔ò̸͔̊ͅñ̵͈t̷͙̾̓ȑ̸̩͙͒a̶͚͛̈́͜c̷̳̍t̶̙̀̂ ̶̢̞͋͌M̷̛̰̦̎o̸̮̍̇ḑ̸̅ì̴̢͎̚f̸̜̀͠i̶͈̅̍e̷͖̜̚d̸͔͗ͅ**

**DUE TO UNFORESEEN DEVIATIONS IN REALITY AND RELATIONSHIPS, YOUR CONTRACT WITH Toshinori Yagi HAS BEEN MODIFIED TO BETTER SUIT YOUR AVAILABLE RESOURCES AND CIRCUMSTANCES**

**CONTRACT - EMBRACE YOUR HEROIC DESTINY**

**NEW CRITERIA : FORGE YOUR BODY AND MIND INTO A VESSEL FIT TO GUIDE THE WORLD OF HEROISM INTO A NEW ERA OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY**

**NEW TIME LIMIT : 6 MONTHS**

**NEW REWARDS : ??????????????????**

**NEW PENALTY: CERTAIN DEATH**

The music and message collapsed into the shape of a skull that let out a shrill cackle before disappearing, leaving Toshinori and Izuku bewildered and a little overwhelmed. 

Izuku was the first to speak, “Why did I get up this morning?

**YOUR STRESS IS REACHING CRITICAL LEVELS**

**XXXXXX**

Two days later at the crack of dawn, Izuku stood waiting for his idol on Dagobah beach, somehow more nervous than ever. The beach was a popular illegal dumping ground for corporations and individuals alike, gathering such a massive collection of detritus and garbage that to call it a beach was bordering on inaccurate. He knew that All Might had called him here for a reason, he was well aware of just how dire Izuku’s circumstances had become and definitely had a reason. He had to have a reason, just like he had one for leaving Izuku in the dark for more than 36 hours after life or death consequences had been put on the boy’s shoulders.

The last two days had weighed heavily on him and led to an extreme lack of rest. Sleep was a sort of commodity for him in the first place, but his own quirk giving him six months to live unless he “embraced his heroic destiny” had induced a special kind of insomnia in the boy, the kind filled with ancient existential questions and ponderings on the nature of reality better left to old men with little to do. The meaning of the universe and his place in it vis a vi his quirk had left him ghoulish in appearance, the bags under his eyes giving way to something darker than eyeliner.

Izuku had tried to figure out as much as he could about his quirk beyond the little he had known, coming up with a little bit of progress. He had access to a status screen that was summonable at will and displayed his stats and stress, a link to a menu that showed all his current contracts, and a list of all unlocked skills and “features”. He could also summon a menu that listed every song he had unlocked and finally gave him control of when it triggered, meaning no more songs literally stuck in his head, as well as a variety of elaborate features and customizations he’d quickly grown tired of manipulating the night before on account of his selection of music consisting of 6 songs that were all in english, at least the one shrieking metal song seemed to be in English.

Dragging his hands down his face and letting out a ragged sigh, he sat down on the nearest piece of semi-comfortable scrap and pulled up his status screen, intending to poke and prod his way to some sort of discovery, knowing the efforts were probably fruitless.

**STATUS**

**IZUKU MIDORIYA - DESTINED HERO**

**Gamer Rank: Neophyte**

**STRESS : DEAR GOD, TAKE A FUCKING NAP AND EAT SOMETHING**

**STATS**

**Strength: 15 Guts: 21**

**Heart: 30 Smarts: 99 (Cap)**

**Will: 49 Witchery: 17**

**Vision:78 Knack: 22**

**FEATURES**

**Dynamic Music**

**Timed Dodging**

**Basic Status tracking**

**Stress Management System**

Izuku sat staring at the scream, instantly falling into a storm of mumbles and mutterings, his thoughts winding in directions far removed from anywhere productive.

Moments later All Might fell from the sky, landing with a heavy thump and a cloud of dust that dissipated to reveal him dressed in casual clothes and striking a dynamic pose.

A signature bellowing cry came with his appearance,  **“I AM HERE!”** He held the pose for a few seconds before realizing that Izuku was locked in one of his seemingly regular mumbling episodes, showing not even the slightest hint of awareness regarding his surroundings. A puff of smoke surrounded the number one hero and gave way to his true emaciated self, a trickle of blood leaking out the corner of his mouth that he quickly wiped away.

Rather than shake the boy from his trance right away, he took the moment to look him over, quickly noticing that he looked even more haggard and beaten down than he had after the villain attack. He was hunched over a screen similar to the one he had seen two days before, poking and prodding before shaking his head. He looked awful and Toshinori felt responsible, having essentially ghosted an obviously anxious child that had been put into literal dire straits because of his actions. He let out a deep sigh and took a seat on a piece of scrap near Izuku’s.

The skeleton of a man rested his arms on his knees as he asked a question, “Have you figured anything else out about your quirk?”

Izuku didn’t show a hint of surprise at him speaking and quickly responded, “Not much.” He stood up and walked over to Toshinori for him to see the screen floating in front of him. “I have a status screen I can summon at will which keeps track of my stats and some other things. It also links to my contracts. Plus, there’s a screen that lets me control the music my quirk plays.”

Izuku watched as the man’s eyes darted across the screen before they honed in on his stress level, his passive expression giving way to a concern. Before either of them could speak the status screen blinked out of existence before a smaller screen appeared

TOSHINORI YAGI IS WORRIED ABOUT YOU

The man in question’s brow raised. “Has that happened before?”

“Yeah, but only ever with my mom and my neighbor. I think it only works for people that care about me…” Izuku had trailed off and turned to face away from the older man, dismissing the prompt and letting the implications of his words go without comment.

Toshinori frowned, realizing that his new found protege was even more complicated than he first assumed, before standing. “I’m sorry for not keeping you in the loop until last night, with how serious things got with your quirk I had to move a bunch of things around. Everything should be set now for me to focus on your training first and foremost.”

Izuku gave a small smile, “After your three hours of heroics right? But your office is on the other side of the country just about, do you really have the time to spare on me?”

“I was actually in the middle of moving my headquarters before I met you, yesterday was spent doing a lot of paperwork and calling in a lot of favors to get things off the ground way quicker.” Izuku’s smile grew a little wider as he looked down at the ground, the feeling of his lifelong hero caring about him offsetting his discomfort just a little bit more.

“Not only that, your life is possibly in danger just from me offering you the chance to become my successor Midoriya. It would go against everything I stand for if I were to leave you to your own devices.” He stood and brushed his pants off before giving the teenager in front of him a hard stare. “Now I was going to start you out on conditioning today, like I mentioned before we parted, my quirk would tear you apart from the inside as you are now.”

Izuku’s small smile gave way to a frown, his voice dropping down to a near whisper again as he stood from his makeshift chair,“Yeah, I remember. When I wasn’t obsessing over my quirk the last few days I was looking into rapid conditioning and anything that seemed feasible in six months, but I only found really expensive programs at gyms and the like that involve healing quirks and that sounds super dubious. Most healing quirks aren’t meant for the kind of subtle recovery that’s involved with building muscle and the like, except for maybe recovery girl or that one villain with biokinesis. I mean, I suppose if you were to totally destroy yourself in a workout then it could work in some cases, but that sounds super dan…” 

Izuku was cut off by a hand on his shoulder and a blank expression from Toshinori, “Kid, I’ve got it figured out. Don’t worry. We’ll have you ready by the deadline. The only thing you need to be concerned with is getting some sleep and getting some decent food in you, even your quirk thinks that.”

Izuku slipped the hand off his shoulder and turned away, “I know, but I just… I get so wrapped up in my own head sometimes and instead of just staring up at the ceiling and doing nothing I try to make some sort of use of my time.”

“I speak from experience on this, the work you do while exhausted and sleep deprived is almost always awful in comparison to what you’re capable of when you’re well rested. Now I’m taking you home and making sure you get some rest.” 

Izuku was impressed at how paternal the husk of a man in front of him could be seeing as he looked like a stiff wind might knock him prone, but he wasn’t the number one hero for nothing.That feeling was quickly swallowed up by dread as he remembered what waited for him at home. 

“About that, my mom wants to meet you today.” His voice was obviously choking on apologetic anxiety and regret.

The look of disappointment on Toshinori’s face made Izuku’s heart hurt. “Kid, I told you to keep this secret.” 

Izuku’s response was part irritation and part desperate apology, “I know but I couldn’t just tell my mom nothing. All I said was that you’ve worked with All Might, were there at the villain attack, and were impressed with me. She knows how bad I want to be a hero and I know she’ll be okay with this, but I couldn’t just leave her in the dark or think that something weird was happening with me.” 

Before Toshinori could respond, Izuku’s eyes had started to water and his voice cracked, “I need to be honest with you. I’m not exactly the most stable of people. There was an incident a few months ago… and I’m in outpatient psychiatric care because of it. My mom was completely blindsided by it, we weren’t exactly as close as we had been when I was younger, and ever since she’s been trying her best to help me.”

“I know that might mean you don’t want me for your successor anymore and I probably should have been clear from the get go that I’m not exactly put together, but I’ve wanted to be a hero like you for as long as I can remember and-” Izuku was stopped from his rambling by Toshinori bulking up into the figure of his idol.

All Might’s tone was the softest Izuku had ever heard from him, “ **Enough of that Izuku Midoriya, I chose you to inherit my power for a reason and your honesty and vulnerability just make me feel that much better about it!** ” A puff of smoke gave way to a wide smile on the number one hero’s skeletal face, “Besides, you have to have a few screws loose to even want to be a pro hero, let alone to go through with it. I’m not exactly the most put together myself.”

Izuku seemed mollified, but still unsure, “Being a hero and what happened to me aren’t exactly the same thing.” 

“I know that I’m not known for subtlety, but I can read between the lines better than most people I’ve met. You don’t need to spell it out and you don’t need to worry about me changing my mind. You’re getting the care you need anyways right? And intense exercise does wonders for the brain!” Toshinori had placed an arm around Izuku’s shoulders, walking him towards the entry of the beach. “Now which way is your home? I want to take care of anything your mom might be worried about and get you fed and sleeping asap. We’ve got a lot to do and we can only do it when you’re not about to break down.”

**YOUR STRESS HAS DECREASED A LITTLE**

**CURRENT STATE: YOU STILL NEED TO FUCKING SLEEP**

**XXXXXX**

Inko Midoriya was a seemingly average woman at first glance, a sentiment she would probably agree with if asked, though anyone who spent a decent amount of time around her would inevitably notice there was something  _ more  _ to her. The nature of that  _ more _ was hard to put into concrete terms but it was there, especially when it came to matters involving her son. The boy in question was on her mind, though he rarely wasn’t, as she sat alone in her kitchen, hands clasped and set on the tabletop in front of her and eyes darting between the kettle on the stove and the All Might themed clock on the wall near her.

Her son was bringing someone home with him today that had offered him a chance at his dream and Inko had spent the last few days filled with unvoiced concern and silent hope. Her only response to him rushing in the door with good news laced with unspoken anxiety was a bright smile and a simple request to bring this person to her before any serious training happened. Izuku had quickly agreed and elaborated on the situation, before the two fell into their usual quiet routine. She had so much more to say, but couldn’t find the will to voice any of it.

That had been a running theme for the last several months, ever since she spent a night alone in the hospital with her unresponsive son hooked up to a million tubes and wires as doctors prepped for major surgery. She’d spoken not even a fraction of a percent of the things she wanted to tell and ask her child. The why had gone unasked and unsaid. Asking what she had done wrong and how she could be better never happened. Asking what he needed and how she could give it to him didn’t get off the ground. She has only said that she loved him once or twice a day, rather than the hundreds she felt that she should have. 

She’d not bothered asking any of those questions because she knew the answers to all of them and she’d kept her expressions of maternal affection to a minimum because they wouldn’t change any of those answers. The honest brutal answers were horrific and her son didn’t have it in him to hurt his mother like they would have, even if they were the truth and she deserved it. 

He deserved a better mom. A father who took the time to act like a father. A school that made sure he was safe and helped on his way to being his best self. He deserved people that cared about him as much as he cared about the world.

She’d failed Izuku everyday for the last ten years, ever since she let his dreams be crushed without a word of protest. Maybe others would say that letting a four year old know their life’s hope was unrealistic wasn’t the worst thing to do, but her son had such a pure and deep wish to be a hero that for her to not even say he could do it if he tried. She should have thrown that doctor out the window for being so cruel. She should have helped him figure out safe diet and exercise, do research into support gear that might enable him to fight villains without a quirk, just show him that she believed in him with all her heart because someone as wonderful and kind as him deserved it. He deserved people to be there for him and love him for him and tell him that just because he had an extra toe joint instead of a super power didn’t mean he couldn’t be a shining star of all that humans could be. Maybe some of that was her bias as his mother speaking, but she still believed every word with all of her heart. 

Before she could fall any deeper into her ruminations on her maternal performance, the kettle let out a screech. She stood and dusted off her apron before setting out everything for tea, figuring that her son was due any moment and that he would appreciate some hospitality for his guest. There would be more time for her to beat herself up later, now was the time to actually try and do something about he guilt.

As she had finished laying cups and snacks, the front door opened and her son’s voice called out, “Mom, I’m home! I have Mr. Toshinori with me!”

She brought the widest and brightest smile she could to her face for her son, “I’m in the kitchen Izuku, there’s tea and snacks ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought. Next one will be more fun, I promise,first day of training, more Laura, we meet a cop, a spider, a crybaby. and an attitude adjuster, and maybe some plot. It's about halfway done too so expect it soon, hopefully.
> 
> As far as long term plans stuff, the Mishima Zaibatsu and G corporation will start having a major influence hopefully by the start of the fourth chapter and a major wrinkle of Izuku's quirk will show up once Izuku gets one for all that will see shipping and fluff happen a lot more. Some of his classmates will make a debut before long as well, three in particular. We'll also see some characters and settings that go beyond fighting game/mha level after he gets his quirk. Lots of features to unlock. 
> 
> Just so you know, I'm playing fast and loose with timelines for Tekken and Street fighter. Some characters are fartheer along or more behind than others in their chronology. Generally street fighter is in between Ultra IV and V. Tekken is gonna be all over the place, seeing as Harada and co don't really care about concrete and developed story for anyone that isn't a Kazuya or Heihachi atm. KOF's continuity doesn't make a lick of sense anymore, but everything is between 13 and 14. Except Shermie didn't die because screw that noise.
> 
> If you decide to leave a comment, I wouldn't mind if you left a vote on whether you want to see Karin from Street Fighter or Angel from KOF first. I have pre-existing notes and plans for them. They'll both show up and have big parts in Izuku's life, but I can't decide between who I want to shine a light on first as they're both favorites of mine. I could flip a coin, but I felt like asking whoever reads this for their opinion would be neat. 
> 
> Karin would take a very vested interest in Izuku pretty quickly, maybe to the point of feeling some ownership over him in some ways and a pretty fierce protective streak. It'll be adoarable and concerning and Izuku will not know what to do with someone finding him so interesting and enjoyable to be around.
> 
> Angel would be a lot more aloof and dangerous. She's definitely not working with the good guys at the start, but won't be able to help herself from feeling like a person around Izuku. Plus she's a flirty Mexican cowgirl/biker-chick. Izuku could use a flirty Mexican cowgirl/biker-chick in his life.


	3. Pop Punk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. Had plot bunnies to exorcise in the form of another ongoing fic and icky IRL stuff to deal with
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVuB1ZASrGw

Toshinori was fairly certain that no matter what Izuku’s father looked like, he took after his mother way more. Inko Midoriya was not much taller than her son and on the plumper side, but her green hair was a perfect match, as was the anxious energy in her matching green eyes. She’d not made much direct eye contact with the skeletal man, most of her attention was focussed on her son’s explanation of the situation, but what little there had revealed a woman with a lot going on in her life and mind. 

Izuku had surprisingly taken the lead in the conversation overall, explaining to his mother that the quirk he’d told her was seemingly useless may have a lot more going on than was possible to understand without a lot of experimentation, preferably with supervision, and could lead to him being the hero he wanted to be after all. Izuku had explained that Toshinori was a long term partner of All Might with a background in physical therapy and training. Toshinori had mostly just backed up and reaffirmed everything the boy said, he was incredibly articulate in the safety of his own home and had left no holes in his explanation the average person would need to worry about. His mother apparently wasn’t the average person.

Inko had stood up after her son had stopped speaking, walking over to the sink to place her used tea cup before turning around to hit the skeleton in her kitchen with something the man could only call a mom stare. 

“I have every reason to believe in my son and what he says, especially when he tells me he has a chance at the dream that has kept him going for almost his entire life, but I have no reason to trust you.” The woman had crossed her arms and stood as straight as she possibly could, making an attempt at being imposing and almost succeeding. 

Izuku spoke up immediately, “Mom, it’s fine, he’s just-”

“Izuku, I know that I can’t say that I’m just looking out for you without sounding like a hypocrite, but I need to be sure everything is above board.” She quickly ran over to her son and pulled him into a hug, breaking into tears and sobs. “Please let me be your mom and make a scary momma bear speech for the first time okay?”

Izuku’s face went through more expressions in a single moment than Toshinori thought possible, settling on a mix of pensive and confused, before he wrapped himself around his mom with a matching fervor, mumbling a quiet agreement. The two held the hug for long enough that the man watching on was starting to feel out of place, but was broken moments later. Inko wiped the tears from her eyes and placed her hands on her son’s shoulders.

“I’m going to make Katsudon tonight to finally celebrate your quirk manifesting okay? We haven’t done anything like that in a while and you deserve it. Do you want to invite our neighbors?”

Izuku sniffled and rubbed his eyes, before letting out a sigh. “Mr. Sam and Max will definitely come, they’re always in the mood for free food. I… I don’t know about Ms. Morgan but I can ask. She’s been… busy with her boyfriend and all that.”

Inko smoothed out the sleeves of Izuku’s shirt and gave a wide grin, “I know that Lucia’s boyfriend is a sore spot for you, so you don’t have to invite them if he’s around, but she’s been good to us and has been asking about you ever since you got home from the hospital.”

Izuku gave a sigh and a nod, “Okay. You’re right. We’re gonna need more groceries if we’re gonna have Max over.” He turned to Toshinori, who was still watching in awkward silence, “Do you want to stay for dinner Mr. Toshinori? Mom is a really amazing cook, her Katsudon especially.”

Toshinori looked at the petite woman that was still giving him intense looks whenever her son wasn’t watching and coughed into his hand. His tone was notably strained, “I’m not sure that’s the best-”

“That’s a lovely idea Izuku! It gives me even more time to make sure he’s above board!” While Inko’s beaming smile and clasped hands made her son feel at ease with her intentions, Toshinori felt the sharpness of her eyes pierce into his soul. Or he was being dramatic and she was just a normal woman incapable of following through on any of the tortures and pains he found himself imagining. 

Toshinori gave a reluctant smile and tried to keep his voice succeeding, the discomfort of his situation only growing, “T-t-that sounds just fine then. I haven’t had a home cooked meal in a while anyway.” 

Izuku’s resulting smile, one that made his exhaustion and stress seemingly disappear, immediately made that discomfort evaporate into a pure and absolute need to protect.The way his grin went from ear to ear and made his scars and exhaustion almost imperceptible made Izuku actually look his age. The symbol of peace could only think to himself that the boy was too pure to be real in that moment. 

XXX

Izuku let out a deep sigh as he knocked on the door of one of his neighbor’s, dreading either possible person who could answer. He felt bad about that, it was silly and immature to be jealous of his neighbor’s relationship. He stood up straight and schooled his features into an acceptably cheery half-smile.

On the other side of the door Lucia Morgan groaned as she rolled off of her couch and landed face down on her floor, just barely avoiding her coffee table. The struggle to get to even her knees was monumental, but when a second set of quiet knocks rang out she somehow got to her feet and started trudging to the door. As she walked, she took a quick mental inventory of all the people who could possibly be visiting her at 11PM on a Saturday. None of her coworkers at the station liked her very much, Cody was busy for the foreseeable future for various reasons, Haggar was on vacation with his family, and Guy was off doing whatever ninja’s do. That meant there were only two other people who were most likely were waiting on the other side of her door, the thought of which shook her from her stupor and sent her careening to her door, nearly ripping it off the hinges to reveal Izuku, hand raised to knock once more.

The two stood staring at each other for a few moments; Izuku not sure what to say and wrestling with a pan in his chest at seeing Luicia again, Lucia in mild shock that the younger of the two Midoriya’s was standing there like she'd desperately hoped. Izuku was thinner than when she had seen him last and his eyes had something in them that had never been there before, then she noticed his scars. Izuku’s heartache gave way to a luminescent blush, Lucia’s loose fitting sweater and shorts giving him a view he hadn’t been prepared for.

Lucia Morgan was 24 years old, having moved next door with her father when Izuku was 4. Blonde with blue eyes, she was a little taller than average,with an athletic build that went beyond what was even expected for a cop, which she had been for almost five years. Her chin length hair framed her face, which went from shock to a wide smile then back to shock at the sight of him. She’d been a constant fixture in his life until six months ago, when she’d started dating one of her coworkers. Izuku did his best not to think of him. 

“Izuku… I didn’t know it was that bad.” Lucia was quiet, touching the spot on her face matching the marks on Izuku’s face.

Izuku’s face went blank in a way that made her immediately regret saying anything, “...It was a partial degloving of my face along with a shard of glass that was stuck in my forehead. The less said about what happened below the collar the better. One of the paramedics had a quirk that could put someone in stasis. If anyone else had found me I’d be dead. I was in surgery for six hours. The surgeon with a healing quirk was on vacation so I was pretty lucky that I managed to pull though. Mom was the only person who spent any time with me, Sam and Max tried to come but they’re banned from the hospital, no exceptions. I was told by a nurse the day I left the hospital that my chances of survival had been about the same as being struck by lightning four times in a row, which sounds almost about right. Anything else you wanna know?”

Lucia tried to fight the frown, but the way he was talking to her, as well as what was unsaid, upset her on so many levels and there was no way she could react. Her fists clenched, trying to swallow her anger. 

“Sorry, that was mean. I… I’m sorry. I’ve been a real brat to you and I just…” Izuku was staring at his feet, hair hiding his eyes that she was sure were filled with tears. He definitely saw her frown.

Lucia pulled him into her doorway and wrapped him in a tight hug, resting her head on top of his shoulder and letting out a sob, the boy in her arms completely freezing up.

“Damn it Izuku, just once can’t you act your age and not own up to mistakes immediately. You don’t know how much I’ve missed you and how worried I’ve been, but I’m the one who was wrong. Even if you didn’t want to be around me anymore I should have acted like an adult and visited you. I’m so sorry, Izuku.” She’d descended into heaving sobs and squeezed a little tighter.

Izuku returned the hug with everything he had, his voice a mess of incoherent mumbling and small whines, turning his head into Lucia’s neck. She was able to make out very little, but one phrase made a dusting of pink light up on her face.

“I was so dumb to be so jealous. You’re so important that it shouldn’t have mattered.”

While the young woman would never call herself the sharpest, she was able to put two and two together as to what the boy was talking about. She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a breath, trying to clear the need to cry out of her system. A smirk crept on her face as she spoke, “If you’re worried about competition still, don’t be. I broke up with that asshole a few weeks ago. I’ve been moping around my apartment alone after work ever since.” She leaned back a little and grinned dangerously, but the effect she was going for was greatly diminished by the tear streaks and bloodshot eyes. “But you’ve finally come to rescue me from heartbreak haven’t you hero?”

Izuku surprised her when he frowned and leaned back into her, chin resting next to her ear, and then whispered, “Please don’t joke with me like that. I know you’re an adult Lucia but I really wanted to keep the promise I made as a kid, as dumb as that sounds.”

Lucia would swear to any witnesses that the sudden and explosive coloration of her face was due to a freak out of nowhere fever and had nothing to do with the surprisingly smooth words coming out of Izuku’s mouth. He was getting dangerous for her with how earnest he was, not helped by just how much she’d missed him in general. She took a deep breath and schooled her features, leaning back and putting her hands on Izuku’s shoulders. 

“So what’s up kiddo? Was there a reason you knocked on my door or were just that desperate to see big sis Lucia again?” She smirked at how Izuku blushed yet again at her words, but was prevented from any smug feelings by how he seemed to be suddenly vibrating with excitement.

“My mom wanted to invite you over for dinner. We’re celebrating my quirk manifesting! It happened after my accident and I honestly don’t understand how it works other than that I can warp reality in certain ways reminiscent of some kinds of video games, partially due to lack of thought and partially because I’m unwilling to think too deeply about certain aspects of my quirks nature due to the existential and metaphysical questions it poses, as quite frankly I am too young and probably too traumatized to cope with the answers I could come up with. But it’s definitely incredibly powerful, in theory, and not only that but I found someone who wants to help train me and get me up to par with kids my age for the U.A. exam! I’m actually going to make my dreams come true Lucia!” 

Lucia had smiled and nodded along, noting that Izuku’s breath control had only improved in the past few months and thankful her ability to comprehend Izuku’s mumbled ranting was still top notch. “That’s amazing Izuku, though a little concerning in a few ways, but I’m really happy for you!”

“So do you want to come? My trainer, Mr. Yagi, is with my mom right now and I’m going to pick up groceries after I see if Sam and Mr. Max can come.” Izuku’s smile was too bright, making her feel like she needed to cover her eyes to avoid going blind.

“You really think I would say no to Mamadoriya’s cooking? That sounds like a great time, plus I can help her make sure this Yagi guy is above board too!” 

The two exchanged a few more words before parting, Lucia to change and head over to the Midoriyas’ apartment and Izuku to leave the apartment building and cross the street to an office complex where his other potential guests lived and worked. The building was previously home to several different businesses, but now hosted only two as a result of those two businesses taking residence there. Climbing up the stairs towards the the fourth story, Izuku quickly stopped a few feet short of one of the office entrances and dove to the left as a body was unceremoniously thrown through the opaque glass of a door, landing in a groaning heap just in front of the stairs.

Izuku quickly ran over and crouched down to check on the obviously injured person, who the boy recognized, “Mr. Marlowe? What’s going on?” The now named man blinked blearily as he turned onto his back and looked up at the boy’s concerned features. 

“Izuku?” He groaned again, this time more out of exasperation than pain. “Kid, get the hell out of here. The last thing I need is those two clowns trying to break my bones too.”

Before Izuku could voice confusion at his response, a hulking mass of a man walked through the broken glass door, announced by the sound of a chain thumping onto an open palm. He was at least seven feet tall, more than that with the bright yellow mohawk on top of his head. Dark skinned, dressed like a washed up punk band bassist, and sporting a gut that clashed against the obvious muscle on his arms and legs, Izuku couldn’t keep himself from nervously swallowing.

YOUR STRESS IS TOO HIGH FOR THIS SHIT AND YOU SHOULD BE IN BED

“What’s this Marlowe? Got a kid hanging around you now? Can’t keep your scumminess to yourself anymore?” His voice was deep and had an accent that Izuku recognized as british. “Out of the way kid. I’m not done with this drunk.”

Izuku stood from his crouched position, trying to keep his shaking to a minimum as he made eye contact with the terrifying man in front of him. “I-I-I d-don’t know what Mr. Marlowe did this time, and I’m sure it was probably messed up-” Izuku ignored the man in questions indignant response and continued, “But he owes Sam and Mr. Max a lot of money and my conscience won’t let me stand by and do nothing while someone tries to kill him...again.”

The mohawk sporting man’s face fell into a sneer for a few seconds before breaking into a wild grin and matching cackle, “You’ve got spunk there firecracker, which normally would be enough to get me to leave you alone, but I’m in a bad mood today, mostly due to that piss poor excuse for a detective you’re standing in front of, so you either step aside or I go through you.”

Izuku closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, spreading his legs apart and clenching his fists. He had no idea how he was going to get out of this situation in one piece, but he had to do something. All Might would do something.

YOUR STEADFAST DETERMINATION TO SEE A FIGHT THROUGH HAS UNLOCKED THE ENCOUNTERS FEATURE

NEW TRACKS UNLOCKED!

Now Playing - PUP - DVP

ENCOUNTER START

HEAVEN OR HELL?

ROUND 1

LET’S ROCK

Izuku quickly dismissed the alerts and moved his fists into the closest approximation of a boxer’s stance he could manage, flinching a little when the man unwrapped chains from his meaty wrists that pooled at the floor by his feet. Izuku moved first, diving to the side just as the end of a chain went flying past his head. He needed to think of a plan, one that involved as little bodily harm on his part. The problem was that Izuku was too tired and too freaked out to think things through at all, otherwise he would have done everything he could to dissolve the situation peacefully. As he stumbled forward into a run, Izuku let out a yelp and fell backward, just barely moving out of the way of the man barreling into the wall, his skin suddenly a dark red. 

CRITICAL DODGE

The alert was punctuated with the thundering punk music in Izuku’s brain being made audible to the world around him.

The man cackled again as he dislodged himself from the wall, “Is that your quirk then? You’re a human hi-fi?” He punctuated the question with a casual flick of one of his chains, Izuku falling ass over tea kettle to get out of the way. “At the very least you’ve got good taste. I fuckin’ love this song!”

“You know this song?” Izuku pressed up against the wall after coming out of a dive, just barely avoiding a shoulder charge from the man.

“Of course I do! Do you not? It’s your quirk isn’t it.” The man’s voice was strained as he was attempting to dislodge his arm from the wall it was buried. 

Seeing an opportunity to hopefully end the fight without anyone actually getting hurt, at least he hoped so, Izuku scooped up a large piece of glass from in front of the battered door of Marlowe’s office and dashed over to the back of his overgrown aggressor, pressing one of the jagged edges to the small of his back. 

Izuku was surprised at how cold his voice sounded as he spoke, “Honestly, I’m fairly certain that it has a mind of its own. Now please stop trying to kill me and Mr. Marlowe.”

The man’s response was almost as cold, “Kid, you’re getting yourself way too deep. We both know that you’ve got not a lick of killing in you.” He punctuated his words by ripping his arm loose from the wall and spinning around, scooping Izuku into the air in a tight grip around his neck, the glass shard being knocked from Izuku’s hands and cutting deep into his palms in the process. “Don’t go threatening someone with a deadly weapon unless you’ve got the stones to use it kid.” The boy could feel the air escaping from his lungs, the massive hand around his throat keeping him from getting any of it back. The music from his quirk cut out and time seemed to slow as his vision started to go dark, an overwhelming sense of disappointment overtaking his mind that this was how he was going to die.

“Birdie! What in the world are you doing, you overgrown ape!?” The two were ripped from their dire situation by a regal feminine voice. 

“Uh- Boss! I was just- uh!” The now named Birdie unceremoniously dropped Izuku to the ground, the boy landing in a boneless heap whilst greedily sucking in air, his hands smearing blood everywhere on the floor as he tried to hold himself steady.

“Just squeezing the life out of a random teenager when you were supposed to be getting information from Marlowe.”

Izuku coughed a few times before managing to get words out, eyes still stuck on the floor below him that was now covered in his blood, “In fairness, I got in his way and threatened him with a piece of glass.” Izuku managed to stand then, finally shaking the stars from his vision and made eye contact with the new arrival. 

He had no idea someone could look that European and that Japanese at the same time. She was around his height and at least four years older than him. Her bright blonde hair was styled into large ringlets that framed her frowning face, blue eyes locked in a contemptuous glare. She was dressed in something that resembled a business suit, but designed by an Edwardian tailor. An expensive red jacket covered a frilly white shirt, that matched a red skirt ending in frills that stopped just above the knee. Rounding out her ensemble was a pair of heeled red boots, black tights, and fingerless gloves. More concerning to Izuku than her clothes though, was the fact that she was very pretty, very fit, and more than like very angry at him.

The girl crossed her arms, “I see… What’s your name then?”

Izuku swallowed, “I-Izuku M-midoriya.”

The smile that crossed her face was far warmer than Izuku could have ever imagined. “Karin Kanzuki. I trust you won’t forget it?” 

Izuku kept his growing confusion as hidden as possible as he nodded, “Y-yes ma’am.” Her last name was familiar for some reason, in fact he was at least decently sure he had seen her somewhere before. 

Karin faced Birdie again, who had been trying to make himself as small as possible, and her features once again fell into a glare, an expression Izuku felt she had an incredible amount of experience with, “Now Birdie, we’re going to have a very long discussion later on how a bodyguard of the Kanzuki Zaibatsu should comport themselves, but for now I’m more concerned on where you let that snake escape too.”

“What are you talking about boss, he’s-” Birdie had begun to point at where he’d left Marlowe but the man was nowhere to be seen.

Izuku spoke up, “Mr. Marlowe has a talent for getting out of situations like this, he probably took advantage of me trying to defend him and ran away.”

Karin’s glare was now directed at him, which was a lot less preferable than the smile she’d just given him,“That’s rather obvious I would say. Just as obvious that your actions have caused me a great deal of inconvenience that will need to be compensated.”

Izuku felt his blood begin to run cold. “Um- Certainly, I might, I mean, I guess that I-”

“Izuku, why are you bleeding and whose legs am I breaking because of it?” Now standing next to the boy was a small white anthropomorphic rabbit, eyes little more than black slits, mouth wide and filled with bright white teeth, and a well maintained Luger pistol gripped in one of his four digit hands. 

“Max! I just tripped and it triggered a series of improbable but still possible events that lead to me getting in the way of these two’s business dispute with Mr. Marlowe and cutting my hands as well as bruising my throat in a way reminiscent of strangulation.” 

Birdie and Karin watched in confusion as Max tucked away his gun… somewhere and gave an emphatic nod, “That sounds like a completely plausible and not at all hamfisted explanation as to why you’re bleeding everywhere.” The rabbit-man-thing turned to face the other two, “I’m Max. Freelance police. I’m one of Izuku’s honorary uncles.”

Birdie let out a snicker, “Honorary uncle? How does that work then?”

Max gave him a look that Birdie couldn’t quite place the nature of, “Honorary uncle is a very serious job that has a long and important history.” 

“Max! I smelt Izuku’s blood again! What in the world did you two get involved with this time little buddy!” The group had their attention directed to a person somewhere between man and dog, dressed in a light gray suit with matching hat and striped black and blue tie, rushing out of the office next to Marlowe’s.

Karin let out a loud groan of frustration, “Is literally everyone in this building going to show up now?”

Sam had run over and came to a stop beside Izuku, taking the younger boy’s hands in his and examining the cuts, “Well Miss, minus Marlowe this is everyone in the building.” 

“Well there’s the mutated bird colony that lives in the ceiling of our office, but Sam and I are still locked in a heated debate as to whether they count as people.” Max was suddenly at Karin’s feet and looking up at her, the young woman having to resist her immediate urge to kick out at the creature.

“Max, they passed the mirror test Izuku told us about and they have a complex social hierarchy. I’m fairly certain they’re at least somewhat sentient.” Sam was wiping the blood now from Izuku’s hands with his tie, the boy trying to protest. “Hold still Izuku, the last time we let you go home with any kind of obvious injury your mom nearly had us stuffed.”

“Sam, you know that words like hierarchy and sentience go right over my little lagomorph brain. Also, Mommadoriya probably would have done all the taxidermy herself, she’s almost certainly capable of the same kind of wanton violence and bloodshed that you and I are when Izuku is involved.” Max’s prolonged eye contact with Karin was starting to make the girl nervous, an emotion she was mostly unacquainted with and decidedly unfond of. 

Birdie let out a long peel of laughter, holding onto his heaving gut the whole time, before speaking, “These two are a riot boss! Who cares about losing the Marlowe goon when we get to have such a great comedy double act instead!”

“Birdie, I didn’t ask for a comedy act when we came here! I asked to make sure we got my money’s worth out of the private investigator you recommended to me, who has failed to keep any of his appointments or follow through with any of the information he promised to procure for us!” Karin had taken a few steps away from Max, who turned to join Sam in fretting over Izuku’s injuries. 

Sam responded quickly, “Well your first mistake was hiring Marlowe. Calling that man a private eye is the same as calling Max a rabbit, true in theory but mostly false in every conceivable way that counts.”

Karin leveled what Izuku was starting to see as her trademark glare at the man-shaped dog, “I don’t recall asking for your input.”

Izuku took her response as a chance to speak and hopefully make something good come out of the situation he’d bumbled into, “If you’re looking for a private investigator than Mr. Sam and Max are the best in the city. They can help you find Marlowe and find out whatever information he was supposed to find for you.”

Karin’s glare softened a little as she looked at him, “Oh really now? And why should I trust your judgement on these two?”

Izuku frowned, his eyes hardening a little, which took Karin back a little. The boy did not seem like someone to have much of a back bone in situations like this. “They’ve got a ninety-eight percent success rate in all their cases here in Musutafu City and are members of the freelance police, which is the only non-government affiliated organization in the world allowed to conduct criminal investigations internationally that contains no licensed professional heroes.”

Birdie had a look of shock on his face as he addressed Karin, “Boss, I’ve heard of the freelance police, they’re big deals and most crooks are terrific of them if they’re in the know.”

“Not only that, they’re some of the earliest members and were given the job of establishing the Japanese branch.” Izuku managed to shake Sam from him as the dog man finished wrapping his hands with bandages he’d pulled from his coat. 

Karin’s glare didn’t hold the heat it first had when pointed at him now, “You seem quite knowledgeable about this.”

Max was suddenly at her feet and looking up, nearly getting Karin to release an undignified sound of surprise, but she’d managed to simply stand still other than a twitch of her eyes. “Izuku’s our weekend secretary and adopted nephew. He understands all the paperwork and other office garbage better than I do, and I’ve been doing it for almost three decades.”

Sam felt the need to comment on the idea of Max attempting any kind of paperwork “Um, Max, I’m not so sure that-” He was cut off by Izuku placing his hand on his shoulder, shaking his head. “Well, anyways, Izuku’s right. We can totally take care of any investigating, interrogating, breaking, entering, or extrajudicial justice you may have need for and it’ll all be mostly legal.”

Izuku chimed in immediately after Sam’s last words, a nervous chuckle sounding out as he spoke, “Completely legal actually! Their operation is completely sanctioned by the Japanese government and any use of force is totally acceptable as long as the right paperwork is filed! These two just have a dark sense of humor is all!”

Karin stared in stony silence for a few moments before speaking, “Very well then. I trust you will be available tomorrow then?”

Sam nodded, “Our office is open seven days a week actually, assuming we’re not out on a case. Luckily we just finished the last of our workload this morning and are more than willing to meet with you tomorrow.” 

“Good.” She turned her attentions to Izuku, smiling now and making him feel warm sensation in his chest, “And you Izuku Midoriya, I will expect recompense for the trouble you cause today, though I apologize for the role that my bodyguard played in it as well.” Izuku didn’t have time to respond as she made her way towards the stairwell, “Come now, we’ve got much to discuss about proper behavior on our way back to the estate.” 

“Yeah boss, I understand.” Birdie gave a wave to Izuku as he followed Karin, “See you ‘round kid, hopefully next time you’ll be able to put up a fight.”

Sam and Max started making their way to their office, Izuku close behind with the boy explaining the reason for his visit and filling in the details of his encounter. A few minutes later, he was headed down the stairs, set on getting the groceries his mom had tasked him with procuring without any further incident when an alert from his quirk popped up in front of his face.

Encounter Complete!

Survived Birdie’s Wrath and Attracted the Attention of Karin

Guts +03 Heart +01  
Will +03 

Karin Kanzuki has taken an interest in you! The strings of your fate grow ever denser!

Izuku had so many questions about his quirk before today, but now had about double the amount. He’d have to finally sit down tomorrow with a notebook and hash everything out, but first he had groceries to get and a nice dinner with the people who cared about him to have. Hopefully he’d manage to get some sleep too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of the wait for this chapter came from realizing that combing Street Fighter, Tekken, and KOF characters and lore into the world of MHA on top of giving Izuku this bizarre version of the gamer quirk that will escalate his life and abilities into Bayonetta and Devil May Cry levels of tomfoolerly is an incredibly ambitious concept that if taken seriously would probably be even more work than developing my own setting, magic system, and lore for a huge epic fantasy series. Which in theory I'm perfectly fine with, but I also realized that I really didn't want to do that unless I turned this story into completely self-indulgent garbage where I ship Izuku with or have him bounce off of every character I love from those settngs.
> 
> Hence why Izuku and Lucia Morgan now have a history where she's his first ever childhood crush and she's his onee-san, though she's probably not gonna stay innocent in her feelings after Izuku starts doing some growing up, which she's already seen some of.
> 
> Then I re-played Sam & Max in The Devil's Playhouse and hatched the idea of them being Izuku's "Honorary Uncles" and how that would affect him and his path as a hero, which almost became a separate story. But then I imagined what it would be like for Sam to interact with someone like G or Akuma and for Max to terrorize any of the cast of MHA along with someone like Ibuki or him meeting Dan or Sagat. Then I decided, screw it, I'm just gonna use this fic to shove video game franchises I like together with Izuku at the core and his quirk and personality the driving force for things. So now the freelance police are loose in Musustafu and love Izuku to the point that if anything happens to him and he lets them, they will probably end the world accidentally on purpose.
> 
> So now that I've taken things down this incredibly foolish path and removed any idea of limits and self-control from my creative process here, hopefully it'll be easier for me to move forward. I wanted to introduce the characters from Laura's dojo that are going to push Izuku fully into fighting game world, but that got moved to next chapter along with Izuku meeting some MHA cast early. Look forward to it!


End file.
